"PayPal a Payment has been Declined" Phishing Scam

PayPal users who have received "Payment has been Declined" email messages like the one below, which claim that their payment has been declined and they need to sign-in to update their accounts, are asked not to click on the link in the email message. This is because the link or button in the fake email messages go to a phishing website looking similar to PayPal's website, where visitors will be asked to sign into with their PayPal account. But, any attempts to sign into the fake PayPal website will send the visitors' PayPal credentials to the cybercriminals behind the phishing scam, who will hijack the accounts and use them fraudulently.

The "PayPal a Payment has been Declined" Phishing Scam

Paypal <support@alfaonta.cz>
Thu 4/5/2018, 6:47 PM
PayPalupdate
Update your Ρayment methοd to keep services.
A Payment has been declined. Please update your credit card to continue your membership. A charge can be declined for a variety of reasons, some of which may not be related to the validity of the credit card. In many cases you simply need to update the expiration date.
Signin
If you don't update your credit card within the next 30 days, you will lose access to your account.

This is why it is important that PayPal users remember never to click on a link to sign into their accounts. They should always go directly to www.paypal.com and sign-in from there instead. Once they have signed into their accounts they will be notified of changes and other important updates if there is any.This will prevent them from becoming victims of phishing scams, where cyber criminals steal their credentials, hijack their accounts, steal their money, and use their accounts fraudulently.

PayPal users who have already been tricked by a phishing scam, are asked to change their passwords and contact PayPal immediately for help.